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III. SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES
The District Public Health Inspectors served 3,089 Notices during
the year, and in 27 cases legal proceedings were employed to enforce
compliance therewith.
At the end of the year the Department was still three below the
establishment of district Inspectors.
Aspects of the work of the Inspectors not covered in the following
paragraphs will be found in the statistical appendix, pages 60 to 64.
Animals.
In January, an application was made by the Council to the Magistrate's
Court for an order under Section 120 of the Public Health (London) Act,
1936, prohibiting the keeping of goats and a pony in a dwelling house
in the Borough. An order was made prohibiting the keeping of goats and
rabbits in the premises. Presumably ponies may tread where rabbits may
notl
Certificates of Disrepair (Rent Act. 1957).
During the year, 37 applications were received'from tenants for
Certificates of Disrepair under the Rent Act, 1957. The Council
exercised its right under Paragraph 5 of the First Schedule of the Act
in refusing to accept undertakings from landlords in respect of nine
premises. It is interesting to note that during the first six months
of the operation of the Act in 1957, no less than 490 applications were
received for certificates of disrepair.
Clean Air.
The Borough's first Smoke Control Order made under the Clean Air
Act, 1956, was confirmed by the Minister of Housing & Local Government
in May and came into operation on 1st November.
The area concerned, situated along the Borough's boundary with the
City of London, is one of 164. acres and comprises 1,979 dwellings and
938 commercial, industrial and other premises. A survey of the area
revealed that the number of appliances in dwellings which were in
regular use, and which required replacement or adaptation, was 1,433.
Included in this number were 1,280 open fires, 86 per cent of which
were found to require replacement with approved appliances.
It is regretted that, at the date of coming into operation of the
Order, applications for grant towards conversions received and approved
amounted to less than 20 per cent of the total number of appliances
requiring conversion. By the end of the year, approval had been given
to approximately 50 per cent of the total. The occupiers of dwellings
were apathetic in spite of the pains taken by the Department's officers
to ensure that they had ample notice of the Council's intention to
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